Beyond value chain mitigation BVCM

Combatting climate change will take a united global effort. As major emitters of greenhouse gas emissions, companies are encouraged to do their part by reducing their carbon footprints and fostering sustainable practices. However, not all emissions can be avoided, and currently, we are far behind where we need to be to achieve the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 °C.

Therefore, the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) recommends that companies not only set emissions reduction targets, but also devote part of their budgets to beyond value chain mitigation (BVCM), funding mitigation action beyond their immediate operations. This includes financing climate projects around the world that avoid, reduce, or remove greenhouse gas emissions.

Shifting from offsetting to contribution claims on the voluntary carbon market

In the past, financing climate projects has been associated with offsetting unabated emissions in order to claim carbon neutrality. However, there is a shift within the voluntary carbon market (VCM) towards an alternative approach: contribution claims. In contrast to offsetting, making a contribution claim emphasises participation in the collective effort to achieve the overall mitigation of global emissions.

This comes with exploring new approaches, besides the now-standard practice of equating the amount of financing for climate projects with the corporate carbon footprint (the ton-for-ton approach). Alternative approaches include determining the amount of contribution to climate projects through an internal carbon price (the money-for-ton approach) or through a fixed percentage of profits or revenue (the money-for-money approach). This gives companies more flexibility in terms of the amount of funding and the specific projects supported. Contributions can, for example, provide early-stage finance to support the implementation of new certified climate projects. They can also encourage the development of new and innovative technologies or support the achievement of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, other than climate change mitigation.

Watch the recording of our BVCM online event

We gathered leading experts from the SBTi, Gold Standard, PwC, WWF, ClimatePartner Impact, and ClimatePartner to share their expertise and discuss how to implement BVCM and neutralisation in corporate climate action.

Fill out the form to watch the recording.

Our speakers of the BVCM online event

Lene Petersen

Lene Petersen has been working at WWF Switzerland for 10 years and leads the Climate & Business work within the Sustainable Markets department. She works with companies to develop effective climate strategies.

Emilien Hoet

“Can we just reduce our way out of this climate crisis? No. Do we absolutely need beyond value chain mitigation to reach global net zero? Yes, quite desperately.”

Emilien Hoet, Head of ClimatePartner UK

Owen Hewlett

Gold Standard is a pioneering NGO that develops and demonstrates credible funding pathways for high-quality climate and development action. This includes voluntary carbon markets, corporate inventories, impact investing, financial products, and funds and governments.

Owen Hewlett leads the technical team at Gold Standard, which includes all aspects of technical policy, strategy and standards, and assurance. He is also a member of the SBTi Technical Council.

Lena Koch

“With the money-for-money and the money-for-ton approach, companies have the possibility to expand the scope of the contribution to other impacts beyond carbon, such as biodiversity, water, or plastic projects. So, a share of the contribution amount could be allocated to those other project types or even towards research and development into new innovative solutions.”

Lena Koch, Market Development & Innovation, ClimatePartner Impact

Andreas Feiner

Andreas Feiner has been a partner at PwC Frankfurt since January 2022. He is responsible for ESG Data and Managed Services in the Sustainability Platform management team, one of the seven business areas of PwC Germany. He is also responsible for the PwC Nature division, which deals with scalable nature conservation as part of companies' Net Zero strategies.

Friederike Nolting

Friederike Nolting embarked on her career in strategy consulting at Stern Stewart. Transitioning to Amazon Retail for 5 years, Friederike embraced diverse supply chain challenges and gained insights into sustainability management. In 2023, Friederike joined ClimatePartner’s global consulting team as a Senior Strategist, leveraging her expertise in internal carbon pricing and actively contributing to the company’s CSRD task force.

Robin Stoffers

“Beyond value chain mitigation and the contribution approaches are so much more than the carbon component. It gives us a great opportunity to invest in impact. It’s about people, it’s about nature, it’s about climate.”

Robin Stoffers, Managing Director at ClimatePartner Impact

Leonie Nazemi

With an academic background in political science, Leonie Nazemi initially worked for non-profit organisations in the field of women's and children's rights. With a growing awareness of the catastrophic effects of climate change, particularly on vulnerable groups, she decided to join ClimatePartner to actively promote financial support for climate action measures worldwide together with our clients.

Learn more in our whitepaper

The whitepaper from ClimatePartner Impact delves into the reasons behind the shift from offsetting to contribution claims, takes a closer look at the different approaches, and highlights the benefits for companies.

Please fill out the form, and we will send you the whitepaper by email.

Case study: Lidl GB and Duncan Farms

With the example of Lidl GB and its collaboration with Duncan Farms, find out what a comprehensive climate action strategy can look like and how it includes financing climate projects – globally and locally.

Read the case study